Merry Christmas Update

I will do my best to update you all on everything without making this too long of a post.

Christmas came to our house and was a lot of fun! Will's main gift was this really cute Little People car garage. He also got the Little People airport from Aunt Gina and Uncle Robbie and it is too cute.
Madeline's big gift was this dollhouse. Other family members got her different rooms and a mini-van to go with the house and family. She has already spent a lot of time playing with this and I think it will be fun for her for several years.

We spent lots of time with both sides of the family. Will really enjoyed getting to interact with everyone and was walking around a lot. He still likes to crawl but really wanted to be like the big kids and walk around. He also gave everyone lots of his good snuggles. I caught him hanging out with Poppa Henry in his chair.

Right before we went on Christmas Break, the kids school had a program. Will's class came in riding in their 6 seater buggy. They rang (or some chewed on) their jingle bells to the music. Will was not shy at all. He just kept looking around and started smiling. He really enjoyed himself. For those of you who don't know, he's the one on the right on the 2nd row wearing green and white pajamas.

Maddie's class sang. . . . you guessed it, Go Tell it on the Mountain. She sang with all her heart but looked a little nervous standing up there. It was fun to see everyone in their pajamas and Maddie was excited to wear her new Christmas p.j.'s and Hello Kitty house shoes.

I have really been enjoying spending so much extra time with the kids. It just reinforces our convictions that the kids need me at home and we are working even more diligently to make that happen after this school year. God has been so good to us and I pray that we are taking the path He would want.

Here is a close-up of my beautiful girl. This picture doesn't do her beautiful light blue eyes justice. I sometimes feel like I blinked and she went from a cute, chubby baby/toddler, to this very grown-up looking preschooler.

Speaking of growing up fast, this little man is getting so tall. He got lots of new winter clothes for Christmas because he is outgrowing everything so quickly. He melts my heart daily with his sweet smiles and affectionate nature.

I will say that the slobber is out of control! I can't believe I didn't have a bib on him and recall that this shirt was quite soaked shortly after this was taken. When will it ever stop????

Maddie asked me to take the next picture as she feels she is 4 going on 13. She loves all things "girl" and parades around in jackets with purses and fancy shoes all the time. Please don't grow up too fast sweet girl!

My dad took many more Christmas pictures with this nicer camera and I plan to post them when I can get over to use their computer.

By the way, what do you all think of my new layout. I like the background but wonder if it looks to Christmasy (sp?) and I should change it soon. Let me know what you think:)

Prepare to be Shocked!

I actually figured out how to get a video clip from my camera onto my blog with minimal help from Nathan!

Let me say that there is a lot going on in this video. I was actually taking still pictures of the kids and Will was walking around by himself. So, I thought I would brilliantly capture it on the camera instead of the camcorder. You will see that this plan did not work so I had Maddie perform her program song to entertain us while Will decided to keep rearranging the refrigerator magnets. I love how he decided to chime in on the song partway through while having the pink paper fall on his face. This is very representative of free time in our house.

For those of you who might not have noticed by my voice and Maddie's. . . yes, we're definitely from the South:)

But, didn't Maddie do a great job with her song. More to come on that Monday night after their program. I will also keep trying to catch Will walking for everyone.

I have such a wonderful husband!

Okay, for some reason, blogger uploaded this picture first and I don't know how to switch things around. So, let's all take a moment to smile and admire this handsome little man's "funny" face. I mean, I may be a little biased, but isn't he just one of the cutest babies you have every seen:)

Now, back to business. . .
If the time is posted on this particular blog, you might be wondering what I am doing at home at this time on a weekday. Well, I'm spending the day with my poor sick little girl.

Apparently, she was throwing up all night.

My wonderful husband woke me up around 11:00 to say that Maddie wasn't feeling well and he was going to lay with her for just a little bit to make sure she was okay. I was fine with that because I was pretty tired and had been asleep since 9:30. I woke up in the morning and thought he just feel asleep in Maddie's room because I hadn't heard anything during the night and I'm a notoriously light sleeper. But, I found the infamous bowl in Maddie's room and a very tired Daddy that told me she had been sick all night. I told him that he should take a sick day and stay home and rest with Maddie but he had already taken a day with Will earlier in the week (pink eye). So, it was my turn to take a sick day and I felt just awful that Nathan had to go teach all day after such a hard night. I still can't believe that he didn't even wake me up! That's just the kind of dad and husband he is.

Maddie is doing well now and has been able to keep everything down. We even decided to pick Will up at 11:00. We had decided to send him to baby school until we felt Maddie was doing better.

So, I've really been enjoying my day doing all of the things I love, spending time with the kids, catching up on laundry, reading all my favorite blogs, and, most importantly, having some time to be with God and my thoughts. It's kind of sad that my life is so hurried that it takes a day off for me to really focus on the One who should always come first. I really need to work on that. God is always so good to me and he is helping me see more clearly that which He would have me do. Now, I just need to work on strengthening my faith to truly carry out His plans for me and not let my own fears and worries get in the way.

Sorry!

Okay, for those of you who have not given up on even checking on my blog, I apologize for taking so long to update. We have just been crazy busy and I'm so tired by the time I get both kids down and get my list of things done that I just fall asleep. I have managed to find a little time to read other's updates and am glad everyone is doing so well.
There is not really anything too new going on in our house. Just the usual business associated with the holidays. My students are about ready to bust from excitement whenever Christmas is mentioned and we have all been counting down the days until Winter Break:) Madeline and Will are getting ready for their school's Christmas program on Monday. Maddie has been singing "Go Tell It On the Mountain" for about a month solid and has it down! Will has been working as hard as a laid-back guy like him can, to get this walking thing down in time to walk in and see his presents on Christmas morning. He is walking more and more and getting faster everyday. He still prefers crawling and cruising but is using walking more and more to get to things.
We are really trying to downplay the gift thing more this year and are trying to talk more about Jesus and the Holy Family. Going to mass on Christmas Day will take priority and we have not gone overboard with presents. Now, whether either Grandma has, remains to be seen:) We are going to be buying a family in our own church some clothes and toys and hope Maddie will understand how important giving is instead of always focusing on receiving.
I hope everyone else is enjoying the holiday season. I will try to post some pictures next time.
God Bless and Good Night!